MEL'S EEE307 NOTES

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Mel’s notes that will hopefully help us in complete EEE307 Assignment 1

In this fictional school, the school is located in a semi rural context. It can be concluded from the MySchool website, there is a slump or decline in literacy and numeracy whole school results from Year 4 onwards.

Hence:
  • Whole school approach should be implemented
  • Difference between early years and middle years
  • To do with Productive Pedagogies
  • Research Cone of Effective Learning (types of teaching and their effectiveness for student retention)
  • Refer to the diagram, use it in the scenario to explain the difference between active and passive learning processes, know that active is most effective
  • Compare active and passive learning in the school scenario, example: Is the learning effective? Practical? Prepare students for real life?
  • Refer to Multiple Intelligences/Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy for learning styles (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic),
  • Refer to building positive relationships between students, teacher, community
  • Think about assessment, pedagogy, curriculum research
  • See Veronicas Resource folder on DSO in EEE307 and use in our presentation

Assignment 1 Considerations


For Assignment 1:
  • Resources in the school
  • What makes language easy or hard
  • Effective evaluation/assessment
  • Attitudes to school survey/results-comment on teachers/effectiveness
  • Physical space, social emotional space, academic/Intellectual, ALL SPACES MUST GEL! Learning environments require management!
  • Context of teaching, fig 4.2 in text book (Reference Below)
  • What the school stands for-philosophy and beliefs, lesson plans, resources, money issues
  • How we teach, fig 4.3 in text book (Reference Below)
  • Use a variety of teaching approaches-Visual, auditory, kinaesthetic
  • Consider interests of students and student needs! Their experiences and point of view-relate it to real life, expand their knowledge and change the current ways in which we teach
  • Use spaces in our assignment and teaching
  • Policies-what we found out and why below average? See/find evidence to support this result i.e. MySchool website
  • Include Productive Pedagogies! All school program, implementation strategies, big picture and scenario

For Policy/Presentation:
  • Refer to our Assessment 1 Criteria
  • Address problems in the school scenario i.e. decline in results, language in current situation
  • Social and cultural context and goals: include the community!
  • Examples must match the key elements of the policy i.e. ways we will change the current situation
  • School expectations of behaviour and roles of teacher, students, community and set expectations in our policy!
  • Use current policies as a template for our own policy and discuss our policy in the presentation with class. Make it relate to classrooms and whole school approach.
  • Policy, Wiki Presentation, Discussion via Script
  • Everything must be relevant to our school scenario!

Productive Pedagogy:
  • Include Productive Pedagogies: Intellectual quality, Connectedness, Difference, Supportive class environment

Assignment 1 Process


EEE307 Task One Checklist:
  • Teaching/learning in the current policy lack things and is inconsistent, so use a whole school approach to change it
  • Don’t use testing such as exams, as they show only what you know and remember, it is not put into the practice and does not cater for social learning or social interactions. Think constructivism teaching and learning!
  • Include ICT (it is on our assessment 1 rubric)!
  • Make sure we create a whole school approach and emphasise consistency!

Method of tackling Assignment 1:
  • Start with information we already have in the school scenario
  • How to improve four main factors in productive pedagogy (personal best, awareness of individuality, value this)
  • Use strategies that engage children (Thinking Hats/Keys, Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, thinking). Value and cater for differences (i.e. culture, ability), create supportive classroom environments that encourages choice, opinion, feeling vocabulary
  • Make connections with real life of students: make experiences relevant to their lives!
  • Example: Cooperative learning PLUS implementation (See it and how)
  • Practical things to achieve big picture, use text book, evaluate learning

How do we put it all together?
  • Use sample policy as template for our own policy
  • Mention our approach an examples to support it – this must address the initial problem in the current situation!
  • Mention Primary AND secondary students/teaching/learning! Hence, create a whole school approach that is consistent!
  • Discuss primary AND secondary in terms of a whole school pedagogy approach (Pedagogy- HOW you go about teaching (activity, focus, set up, way of teaching, group work, etc))
  • Example: Constructivist approach: Scaffolding, engaging, kitchen science to teach science concepts/ideas, relate teaching to real life experiences, etc
  • Google POLT for great rural environment examples
  • SAY: For Primary School Students: Use a constructivist approach, hands on, active approach, connections with the community, how it can be relevant? I.e. visit the town, bakery, writing letters to community, making observations, and excursions to the local town or areas. For Secondary Students: Visit a farm or forest when learning about sustainability, planting native plants, wildlife, animals in the environment, visit the community, experience working in real life, work experience opportunities, etc. ALL STUDENTS: both children and adolescents should have an opportunity to experience everday living and experiences in the real world, prepare them for adulthood! RELATE ALL THESE EXAMPLES TO OUR POLICY AND PRESENTATION!
  • The RESEARCH criterion refers to all of our references used in our Policy and Presentation! Example: “Active approach to our school, we will use constructivist teaching and learning as well as Multiple Intelligences Blah Blah Blah”… This shows research and policy!
  • Write Policy in a document AND Presentation script, Present this using technology and discuss this to our class

Assignment 1 Submission


Assignment 1 Submission:
  • Presentation during Tutorial time
  • Assignment 1 cover sheet
  • Presentation script
  • Policy Document
  • Reference list

School Policies


School Policies:
  • Mostly written like a formula, see examples
  • Analyse problems and the policy makes things right if it is followed
  • Different ways/formats! Example: ‘Teaching an learning policy: Purpose, Aim, Implementation, Evaluation, Docs’
  • Address the decline in the middle years
  • National and/or VELS curriculum
  • School Ethos: Productive Pedagogies
  • Use ideas/own headings and design the policy based on policy examples and school situation/scenario
  • Make children make their own goals in the classroom (student centred learning rather than teacher centred!) share in a group, respectful to all students in the class, etc
  • Classroom evidence that is practical i.e. open ended tasks, different outcomes, possibilities
  • Include examples-be specific, especially about learning environments
  • Child and class management is important, i.e. build mutual respect, relationships, planning, responsibility, positive experiences
  • Teach emotional intelligences
  • Be positive about learning and life
  • Constructivism, higher order thinking skills, create effective classrooms, VELS, constructivist teaching, positive behaviour management, reinforcement, 5Es, etc
  • Format: Similar to Victorian School Policies, explains what a good learning environment is, etc

For disadvantaged:
  • Set examples in school i.e. breakfast club, homework club, after-school programs
  • Use a variety of learning styles, cater for individual needs
  • Be specific-teach about how your class operates
  • Include group work, responsibility tasks, rules, expand vocabulary


Our Policy Presentation


Our Presentation:
  • Write up policy, similar to examples
  • Talk and give examples in presentation but not in document
  • Clearly there is no consistency in ethos or in the school scenario from Prep-Year 12, so address this
  • State Productive Pedagogies classrooms are effective/successful and include this in our policy!
  • In order to be consistent in results, we need a whole school approach!
  • Google POLT Unpacked for good teaching and learning examples
  • Practical examples on presentation, not in document

Presentation:
  • Introduction to our policy
  • Discuss our policy i.e. aim, objectives, etc with practical examples-school wide
  • Cover Productive Pedagogies
  • Blah Blah Blah
  • Conclusion
  • Submit: Coversheet, presentation script, Policy document, Reference list

ICT

ICT Research:
· Examples that Veronica gave us, include: Educational ICT resources i.e. Giggle Poetry, WebQuests, Google Coxhoe Primary School UK-Curriculum Area and see resources/links on this website, for other issues: Bullying No Way website, Amisty International Oxfam, CSIRO for science, etc. Include technology such as interactive smart boards, digital technology, websites, netbooks, etc
· ICT contributes to effective learning environments so research educational and fun websites and consider which technologies are most effective!
· Integrate ICT because ‘most education systems now see ICT as an integral component of the primary curriculum’ (Skamp, 2008, pp. 373).
· ICT tools and resources that would be very useful include: word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia software, digital photographs/images, electronic communication, interactive Internet projects, smart boards and websites (Skamp, 2008, pp. 375-376).
· ICT is important because it introduces our students to our technological world.
· Teaching with ICT also reflects the constructivist theory of learning, ‘When you introduce technology into a classroom, you suddenly invite your students to learn at different rates, about different ideas, catering to different interests and abilities’ (Betcher, 2002).
· ICT also encourages all students’ to continue learning about science and Astronomy both inside and outside school hours. Moreover, ‘there isn’t much point working with ICT on projects at school if you can’t continue with them from home’ (Betcher, 2002).


ICT References:
  • Skamp, K 2008, ‘Our place in space’, in K Skamp (3rd ed.), Teaching Primary Science Constructively, 3rd ed., Thomson, Melbourne, pp. 373-376
  • Betcher, C 2002, Things that make a difference, In-Touch Newsletter, retrieved 13 April 2010, <http://ictpd.net/2008/08/things-that-make-a-difference/>


Assignment 1 Criteria
As long as you cover Assignment 1 criteria then it does not matter how you present your School Policy!

Solution draws upon 5 key principles below (also addressed in Assignment 1 Rubric). We need to also develop learning environments that are:
  • Safety
  • Support
  • Challenge (Think Edward de Bono, Thinking Keys/Hats, Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy)
  • Inclusion
  • Engagement
How can we address these in our whole school approach to teaching and learning?

According to Assignment 1 Criteria, our Policy Document and Presentation can be divided into sections!
  • Developing environments: Safe, supportive, inclusive, engaging, challenging
  • Problems identified (in the current school situation)
  • Community: Social/cultural context, community opportunities
  • ICT (contributing to effective learning environments and examples of which technology and how/why it is effective)

All team members should contribute to:
  • The overall Policy Document (Format similar to other school Policies)
  • Our Presentation Script
  • Research and References (Add on reference Llist)
  • Examples used in presentation (implementation strategies, matching key elements of the Policy)
  • School expectations of behaviour and role of students, teachers and community

Don’t forget to write our School Policy in School Policy format and Presentation Script.

Policy Problem and Aim to Eliminate the Problem

Example


The Issue/Problem with our current situation, and our Policy Aim/Goal should be addressed: for example: Design a consistent, whole school approach that caters for Prep-Year 12, due to the inconsistency and decline in quality of teaching, presented in the online MySchool results (NAPLAN, School wide)

Problems stated, means we have created a policy to address these issues. We have created and implemented a whole school approach to provide consistency and engagement throughout our school. We are also doing this by offering our students an opportunity to participate in real life experiences both educational and engaging, in the classroom, within our school and the wider community.

Don’t forget to mention school expectations of behaviour, rules of students, teachers and community, and ICT

Now, include examples that will address the current problem and situation and will change it. Hopefully our Policy will increase our school results!

Include a Reference List!

Reference List


EEE307 Text Book Reference:
Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Normanhurst, L., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P 2010, Learning for teaching: teaching for learning, Second Edition, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Victoria